Polarization of high-order harmonics

Philippe Antoine, Bertrand Carré, Anne L'Huillier, and Maciej Lewenstein
Phys. Rev. A 55, 1314 – Published 1 February 1997
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Abstract

We report measurements and calculations of the polarization state of high-order harmonics generated by a 790-nm Ti:sapphire laser. The problem of completely characterizing the polarization state of a partially polarized radiation in the XUV range is discussed in detail. The comparison between several gases, xenon, argon and neon, and different orders, from the 17th to the 33rd, shows that the rotation angle and ellipticity strongly depends on the position of the harmonic in the spectrum, and in particular, whether it is in the cutoff or in the plateau. In the plateau, the rotation angle is quite large, and the ellipticity follows that of the fundamental, remaining, however, smaller. The radiation is only partially polarized. In contrast, in the cutoff, both rotation angle and ellipticity remain small, independently of the laser ellipticity. Our experimental results compare well with theoretical predictions including the single-atom response and propagation effects.

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.55.1314

    ©1997 American Physical Society

    Authors & Affiliations

    Philippe Antoine1,2, Bertrand Carré1, Anne L'Huillier1,3, and Maciej Lewenstein1

    • 1Commissariat `a l'Energie Atomique, DSM/DRECAM/SPAM, Centre d'Etudes de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
    • 2Laboratoire de Physique Atomique et Moléculaire, UniversitéCatholique du Louvain, Chemin du Cyclotron,
    • 3Department of Physics, Lund Institute of Technology, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden

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    Vol. 55, Iss. 2 — February 1997

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